Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group inversion tables?

Does anyone use one? Did you find relief for anything? Just curious.

i'm curious too

Here I thought it was some sort of Mathematical table, kind of like the sine and cosine tables. Imagine my surprise when I Googled it and found it was a table to STAND ON YOUR HEAD. Ok you guys, this is just another snake oil cure isn't it? I can't imagine what hanging upside down would do to my neck, let alone my heart. Ohhhhh my. Ka thump Ka thump Ka oops. I'll be watching to see if this can really help anyone.

No, not on my head. Only at an incline with my head lower. Not really snake oil. Not for a cure, for some relief of pinched nerves. Upside down is probably not best for me, but the slope MIGHT be good. Mostly curious if anyone here had used one. I did see some older posts, but only one person who currently posts a bit...Mulehound. He like it and used it then...2 or 3 yrs ago.

The father of a friend of mine used to swear by one for straightening out his spine. He could well have had an inflammatory arthritis (autoimmune conditions run in their family). I think the benefit in them is potentially in that it takes off the gravity pressure on bits of the spine that potentially impinge on nerves. Kind of allowing it all to come a bit looser, possibly in a more natural way than the manipulative therapist who grabs your head and pulls. Would possibly be OK if your spine was attempting to fuse in a fairly straight position, but might not work well if therre was any degree of scoliosis. I couldn't do with having my head that low for any length of time though - would make me feel quite ill.

Can you get a chance to try one before you buy?

rumble,

i know how expensive these are. and i know this little thing i'm gonna recommend will seem totally useless, but its cheap (<$30), and should be perfectly safe (you can ask your doctor or PT to be sure), and i've been amazed how effective its been for my neck.

Real Ease Neck Relaxer

i'll pretty much buy and try anything less than say $50 that seems safe and this was one of those things. when i first got it, didn't think it was really doing much.

then used it when i was desperate with the neck causing the most severe headaches imaginable, and terrible muscle spasms in my upper back and neck. i laid with it for maybe 20-30 minutes and amazingly, everything felt a lot better.

my neck continues to be a big issue, but laying with this for ~20 minutes each day has proven as effective as PT, chiro, or traction.

my chiro thinks it much be putting my neck in neutral and relieving the bone spurs from pressing on the nerves.

all i know is that for now its a cheap solution to a terrible problem.

but that's only if the problem is in your neck like it is for me.

and then other solutions for my SI.

but if you choose the inversion table, let me know what you think.

I tried a friend's inversion table and really liked it. If I had the extra $, I'd get one for sure. It felt soooo good to relieve the pressure in my spine for a few minutes. Heaven!!! I don't think my SIs could handle it if they were really flared up, as they would "pull" as well, so it would have to be used in my less flare-y days only.

Still, it's on my xmas wish list. lol

never tried one, but I do have a zero gravity chair. For years before that I literally sat on the floor leaning against the sofa, because I could better control and shift position of the pressure and weight against my SI and sacrum.

my chair will tilt back so that my upper body weight isn't squishing everything quite as much, and it does help!

My father early on with his AS would go to the garage and hang upside down as seemed. Nothing like the inversion table, but he stated helped take some pressure off back at times.

Tim

I bought one 4 years ago to help me stand up straight,it was to late for me.I should have got it when i was 20 years old not 52.I spent 250$ on it,anybody want to buy it for 150$,only used it 7 or 8 times.......CRAP AS

Tommy